June 2007 Archives

I feel like I'm right at the heart of Seoul. There's a lot of clatter as staff follow the ringing of table bells. It's such a lively room. Hungry people join the queue every couple of minutes. I scan the restaurant, and large majorities of the crowd appear to be Korean. Ah, perfect... it's going to be the real deal. Families, students, large groups and working couples all looked content with their meals. Food really does soothe the soul.

Without a reservation, we lined up for over 30 minutes. That was a long 30 minutes of eyeing everything that came out of the kitchen. So as soon as we were seated, the three of us girls knew what we wanted. A big and warm bubbling hot pot with some kim-chi pancake, please!

Within a couple of minutes, our supply of side dishes arrived:

Then the pot of goodness was served. Mmm... I didn't take a photo after the beef was cooked, so apologies for the raw meat! The hot pot was full of hearty warmth.

Starchy foods are great in Winter too. The Kimchi Pancake was thick and fluffy, and the outside was crisp... it was absolutely divine.

Seoul Ria is the place to be on a cold Winter night!

Seoul Ria
Cnr, George Street & Goulburn Street Sydney City
Tel: +61 (02) 9269 0222

When you get cravings for fresh seafood... where do you go? The Sydney Fish Markets ofcourse! Working in the CBD means I only get such an opportunity on a public holiday or the weekend. So having made up my mind on Friday night... despite rain, hail, storm or shine, I was going to go.

Sunday was gloomy, dull and wet. There were pelicans, seagulls and lots of tourists! I'm a regular at Christie's Seafood. They have the biggest and most tastiest lobster mornay... the prawn cutlets are always battered and fried to perfection... and the same old man is there every day of the week, carefully shucking fresh juicy oysters.

For some strange reason, Christie's Seafood don't do small cold platters with prawns and oysters. So I got mine next door. The spicy seafood cocktail sauce was an appetising accompaniment to the large prawns -tangy with a tiny hint of chilli. I had left my Tabasco at home, otherwise would have enjoyed my oysters twice as much. Nonetheless, they were delicious!

I heart Christie's seafood basket because it fills me up. There are prawn cutlets, pieces of fish, crab stick, calamari and loads of crispy hot chips.

And last but not least... the lobster mornay with generous servings of salad and chips...

I had really wanted to get some tuna, kingfish and salmon sashimi... but was unfortunately too full at this stage. Haha... it'll have to wait for another weekend!

By the way... Christie's Seafood also do fabulous cooked-to-order abalone and crab :-)

Sydney Fish Markets
Web: www.sydneyfishmarket.com.au

...it doesn't mean I like getting ripped off. Passionflower does not serve free tap water. They have a minimum $10 spend per person on Friday and Saturday nights... and for 3 scoops, you're looking at paying at least $12. Now that I've got that off my chest... for the good stuff!

Passionflower no doubt offers unique and delectable flavours with an Asian twist. Some to name are lychee with rose petal, black sesame, jackfruit or durian... and more!

Tonight, we sampled the crepes with 2x scoops of ice-cream. The lychee flavour is sweet and creamy and has lovely bits of lychee all around. The cookies and cream is a classic which is hard to go wrong with.

Next was the Eastern Sunrise. The waffle cup was crispy and looked as pretty as a vase full of fresh flowers. It was ingenuinely glued to the plate with some honey. A scoop each of green tea, sticky rice and taro were mounted ontop of each other, with bits of banana, lychee and orange marrying up the flavours. My favourite has always been the green tea flavour as it particularly reminds me of the Japanese cuisine. The sticky rice was nice too... glutaneous grains of rice were a fascinating texture.

Visit Passionflower at Capitol Square.
Web: http://www.capitolsquare.com.au/html/passionflower.html

ChocolateSuze has tagged me... so here are my seven random food facts:

1. I was a white-meat vegetarian for a few years after watching an episode (Season 7, Episode 5) of The Simpsons
2. I do not eat lamb, not because of my surname... but I can't stand the smell
3. I hate skim milk! Pass me the full cream please
4. I'm going to Tetsuya's to celebrate the first birthday of this blog (and my birthday) next month
5. I absolutely adore any Carpaccio dish since having it served at its best at Yoshii
6. Starchy foods are my weakness... as are shoes, desserts and all things pretty. But especially potatoes... wedges, hot chips with gravy, roast potatoes with sea salt and rosemary, Smith's Original Crisps or Nando's chips and their Peri-Peri sauce... *drools*
7. I dislike washing dishes. I love to occassionally cook... but will refuse to wash up..hehe.. what a good wife i'd make! LOL

Now... due to my recent interest (not obsession) in Facebook... I will be tagging the following people in Facebook! It makes perfect sense doesn't it?
Zen, Jordan, Stacy, Erinna & David.